To the Top: Tindley Summit and the Rebirth of Dubarry

A call to order that Timothy Wright, Co-Principal of Tindley Summit, uses every morning to remind his staff where they are going. It is more than just the name of the school; summit, which means highest point of a hill or mountain, is the destination they want their scholars to reach in life. Tindley Summit Elementary School, part of the highly successful Tindley Accelerated Schools Charter Network is built on the idea, “College starts here.” The goal is to prepare their scholars for learning on an accelerated path to lead to their acceptance to a four year university. This year is different for Tindley Summit, which opened in 2014. This year is a rebirth. Not just for the school, but for a neighborhood.

Previously located on 42nd and Franklin in a shared space with another charter school, Tindley Summit never had a space to call their own. After purchasing the old T.C. Steele Indianapolis Public School # 98, Tindley Summit now has its own building, its own home, and is going through a rebirth and rebrand. Tindley Summit will not only embed in their scholars the famous Tindley “College or Die” slogan, but it will also open their world to STEM. This rebirth is not just for Tindley Summit, but also for the Dubarry neighborhood. Tindley Summit has now become the neighborhood school, something this neighborhood has not had since 2009 when it was the victim of an IPS school closing to cut costs. Since then, many families in the neighborhood have enrolled their children in other schools. Tindley Summit hopes its presence will bring those families back, provide a renewed sense of community to the neighborhood, and a “College or Die” mentality.

How did the families in the neighborhood feel about a charter school taking over a former IPS building? I walked the neighborhood and asked around to gage their feelings.

“It’s a chance for a rebirth of the neighborhood,” one mother described it. “This is as a chance to bring joy and excitement to the area. There is nothing like the sound of children playing on the playground.”

A lifelong Dubarry resident said to me, “I hope it leads to bringing our neighborhood together. The school could be a place where all the kids in neighborhood grow up attending together. They can walk home together from the same place and feel safe. I hope Tindley extends its reach to the community.”

This fall, Tindley Summit will open its elementary school at 3698 Dubarry Road. It will fill a gaping hole in the neighborhood and provide for the educational needs of the students and their families. Hopefully not only will an educational need be filled, but Tindley will be the spark for community and developmental expansion similar to what is happening in the Meadows where Tindley Accelerated High School and Tindley Collegiate are located.

This school year, it is about reappearing and flourishing. This year, the community hopes to have increase after a decline. This is the revival. This is the rebirth in Dubarry and Tindley Summit taking it, “TO THE TOP!”

Tindley Summit is now accepting students grades K-5. To enroll your student or learn more about Tindley Summit, click here.